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Assamites
Assamites---- Revenge is the ending of wrath, the beginning of peace. Only in vengeance can peace exist. They fear us, and rightly. We shall be their doom, and they know it. You too shall be feared, if you are found worthy. Guard these pages well, for they are truth and will show you the way. Resolve your heart; if you fail, you shall die with honour. You have already seen too much to turn back. Come. Feared by all yet courted by many, refusing outside allegiances yet willing to hunt Kindred for a payment of blood, the Assamites are among the most reclusive clans. Once hunted, these vampire assassins are now sought out by the Kindred to dispose of their enemies. Fearful tales are told of their skill in hunting the most dangerous prey, their bravery in combat, and their fierce loyalty to their clan. Yet the tellers of these tales do not guess at the truth: the millennia of warfare, the roots of the Jyhad, and the clan mysteries which no outsider has ever seen. ---- ---- History We are the oldest of clans ~~ far older than the fools of the Camarilla. They had not yet gathered themselves into clans when the Assamites were born, and their vaunted council was millennia in the future. It began in the first city, which we call En'esh. Here, Khayyin ceased his wandering and begat the Second Generation, whose number was five. The kafir speak of three, but five was their true number. For it was in En'esh that Haqim our ancestor lived, and where we, his children, were born. Haqim was the lord of the armies of En'esh, a great and noble warrior, beloved of the king and feared and loved by the people. He saw how the wanderer Khayyin entered the city with lies, and forced the king and queen to his will. He saw, though Khayyin knew it not, how they were made immortal by Khayyin, and how they were taught, and he knew the great evil that would spread from them. He knew that priests could not stop this evil, nor armies, nor city walls, and he was greatly troubled. He gathered to him certain of the soldiers whose hearts he knew, and they came upon the king and queen by day, and slew them and cut off their heads, and gathered up their blood in a goblet. Then with his own hand did our ancestor cut his throat, and watched his blood as it flowed away. When the last of his strengh was leaving him, the soldiers gave him the cup to drink, and though he as sorely wounded, he did not die. Certain soldiers were afraid, and feared that our ancestor would be tainted as the king and queen were tainted, but he reassured them, saying "Be not afraid, for my purpose is true, and I shall use the beast's own strength against it." And the soldiers rejoiced, and freely gave of their blood that Haqim might live and be strong. That night, Khayyin arose from where he lay, since he was hidden and the soldiers could not find him. When he beheld what had become of the king and queen he grew angry, and fell upon the soldiers like a daemon, tearing their bodies assunder. Haqim arose and fought against him; all through the night they struggled, but Haqim was still young in Blood and sore from his Change, and Khayyin prevailed. He drained Haqim and flung him on the sand, and when the sun rose he fled to his hiding place. When he was gone the soldiers covered Haqim with a cloak, and shut him in a casket, and took him from the city. They had yet some blood from the king and queen, and with this our ancestor was healed, though for many months he was sorely wounded. For a long time they traveled, until they came to the far mountains where Khayyin would not find them. There, they built a great and secret fortress which they called Alamut, the Eagle's Nest, for it was lofty and strong. Haqim rested and tended his wounds, and grew stronger in the Blood. Certain of his soldiers, whom he found worthy, he made of the Blood also, and bade them make war upon Khayyin and his progeny, that their evil should not taint the earth. For Haqim knew that Khayyin would make more children in the First City, and indeed he did so. These were the three whom the munafiqun call the Second Generation. They knew not of the king and queen, for Khayyin would not affright them with their own mortality, and knew not that Haqim yet lived. That is the true story of Khayyin the wanderer and Haqim our Ancestor, and it is the true beginning of us all. ---- The CurseAs the centuries passed and the kafir banded together in thier farce called the Camarilla, those Clans that refused to join split off into the Sabbat. This left our rafiq in a very properous position of being hired by both the Camarilla and the Sabbat to end their enemies, even enemies within their own ranks. The Children of Haqim grew strong beyond belief, as the price for their services was the Blood of those slain. Despite the inner strife taking place within the Camarilla, once they began to meet together, the munafiqun began to see the truth. Despite the lies they told each other, their eyes were opened, and they saw how they were used, and how strong had become the Children of Haqim. Just as fables are told of secret demons growing stronger with each telling, so did the kafir tell stories of the Assamites, making us into great and terrible demons in their imagination. So great did their fear become that they could no longer live under the same stars with the Children of Haqim, and they made war upon us. Although Haqim's children had grown strong, the kafir turned the Assamite's mortal allies against them and made repeated attempts at storming Alamut. We managed to turn them away time and again, but we grew weaker with each attack. At last, a kafir Nosferatu was captured in the very heart of Alamut, and the Children of Haqim kenw that defeat had come. This was the darkest hour, when the shame and the woe of Haqim's children were known to all the munafiqun. The Master of Alamut sent to the Camarilla, speaking words of peace, and in the city of Tyre a treaty saved the rafiq from destruction, but the cost of our salvation was a terrible one. The whole of the clan submitted itself to the sorcery of the Tremere warlocks, so that the Blood of Khayyin's get would be as poison to us forever. No more could we walk the Path of Blood and become One with the Ancestor. This is our Curse, and the greatest of our many sorrows. ---- Present TimesThese are dark times, O beloved, and the Children of Haqim are weak. Yet our weakness is our shield, for now that we may no longer walk the Path of Blood, the munafiqun have less fear of us. They hold back their spears from the wounded lion, thinking not that it's wounds shall heal. They believe the rafiq to be conquered, and the wolf to have become a mere dog. Thus, they come to old Alamut increasingly to seek the doom of their enemies, and willingly pay with their own Blood, for they know ~~ so they believe ~~ that the Path of Blood is closed to us. Our weakness is our shield, and our usefulness our stockade; it is clear that we shall never be destroyed, for the folly of the kafir shall always save us. And there are those Children of Haqim who remain Unconquered. Though many have turned their backs upon us, we are no more enemies than we are friends. They still walk the Path of Blood, and it may be that through the Unconquered ones our own feet may turn back to the footsteps of Haqim. Yet before the umma be restored, they must forsake their alliances among the munafiqun and rededicate themselves to our holy task. Thus it remains. We are feared and hunted, and at the same time we are sought out for our skills. We endure, and await the day when our strength is rebuilt. ---- Joining the Assamite Clan Clan Structure Category:Vampire Category:Clans